Billing > Create a draft bill

Create a draft bill

A bill may contain time entries and/or expenses related to a particular file or client, as well as applied payments from trust or general retainer.

● You can save a bill in draft before it is finalized (and an invoice sent to the client) so that users can first review and make changes. To bill multiple files or clients at a time, see Batch billing - Create multiple draft/final bills.

● Bill done on a client with multiple files: Will be finalized as a single bill with multiple invoices, one per file. These invoices are saved as separate PDF or Excel computer files.

● Time entries and expenses: Ones included on a draft bill may be edited. However, once the bill is finalized and invoice(s) created, you can no longer edit the entries.

● Primary client: You must assign a primary client to the file before you can create invoices on it.

You can create a bill on a specific file even if there are no new fees or expenses on the file. This allows you to send a "status" invoice to the client, which would show a change in the AR balance if a payment was made since the last invoice.

1. In the WIP view of Billing, select a file or primary client and click New

Or, from the Amicus taskbar in any view, click the down arrow next to New

2. Enter details

● Date: AR (account receivable) date.

● File or primary client: If you select a client who is the primary client on multiple files, a single bill will be created (excluding any fixed fee files).

● List and select items:

o Choose to list and preselect all time entries and expenses on the file(s), or list and preselect all entries up to a specified date, or simply list all time entries and expenses on the file(s) without preselecting them.

o In the list of entries, select the ones you want on this bill and clear the ones you don't.

● Total amount: Amount shown under the list includes applicable taxes (if any).

If billing a fixed fee file, the fee specified in the file is shown and included in the amount.

● Fee or expense adjustments: Click Edit Amount to adjust the subtotals for fees and/or expenses for a file. If you adjust fees or expenses, the corresponding individual items will show blank values on a detailed invoice. Choose whether to show any fee reduction as a Courtesy Discount on the invoice. If billing for a client with multiple files, adjust each file separately in the window.

● Payment options: If creating the bill for a specific file rather than for a client, choose whether to pay the bill (fully if possible) from general retainer or trust on the file.

3. What to do next

● Save the bill as a draft: Click Save and Close. When you open the draft bill later, the time entries and expenses, and retainer and trust balances, will be updated if necessary to reflect current data.

● Or, if ready to finalize the bill: Click Create Invoice, or click the down arrow on that button and choose Simple Invoice or Detailed Invoice.

o A simple invoice shows only a total in the Fees section:

If billing a fixed fee file, a prompt to edit the default fee description appears, depending on your preference setting.

o A detailed invoice itemizes the time entries in the Fees section:

If billing a fixed fee file, amounts for the individual time entries are not shown.

● The invoice appears in a few moments—see How to finalize a draft bill, creating an invoice.

● Create an invoice and finalize a bill

● Batch billing - Create multiple draft/final bills

● Batch billing - Finalize draft bills, creating invoices

● View your bills and payments (includes WIP files/clients list)

Amicus Cloud (July 2023)